THE CRUCIFIXION.

THE production of a new Oratorio, by SPOIIR, is an important event in the annals of music. We feel that we have to speak of a work destined to be admired when its author, its performers, and its critics, shall be no more—of something that has the seeds of existence and the stamp of duration upon it—of something over which the transient breath of popular applause or censure can have no eventual control.

The musical career of its author forms a unique but instructive

chapter in the history of his art. But a few years since, SPOIllt was known in this country only as a performer on the violin, and, like most eminent performers, a writer also for his own instrument. Like DE BERIOT or Guys, he played his concerto at the Philharmonic; and, like them, he was the talk and admiration of a season. Then appeared his concerted instrumental pieces, and afterwards his Sinfonias,—all ex- hibiting fresh evidences of a powerful and original mind, and new proofs of inventive genius. To these succeeded his Faust and his other operas, which established his fame as a writer for voices as well as instru- ments, and exhibited, in a yet higher degree, the possession of that self- reliance which generates and exhibits the powers of the artist, while they afford a wider and more varied field for the display of those talents which nature had imparted and study developed. Every step with Simms was a stride, not made at random, in haste, or in uncertainty, but firm and stable, until there remained only the crowning work of the musician's labours, the production of an oratorio. On the merits of The Last Judgment it is now needless to expatiate. Our prediction of its future fame was written on the day of its first performance in Eng- land (at the Norwich Festival in 1830); and it has been fully accom- plished.

" Perhaps," says Mr. E. TAYLOR, in the preface to his translation of the present oratorio, "there is no instance of a similar work, under like circumstances, having attained such speedy celebrity and such high estimation. Produced without the sanction of metropolitan approba- tion, it at once seized the public attention and commanded the admira- tion of the most distinguished professors of every school." It is against such a composition that The Crucifixion will be measured ; nor will the fame of its author suffer by the comparison. There are parts of The Last Judgment which reach the highest point of musical sublimity-- which touch the heart and elevate the affections as strongly as they are capable of being moved by music ; but the visions of John, gorgeaus and poetic as they are, must fail, from their shadowy grandeur, to effect our sympathies in a like degree with the subject of the present oratorio,— a subject of which every event is familiar to every hearer, and to which the eloquence of the preacher, the genius of the poet, or the skill of the musician, can only impart a deeper interest by investing it with a more vivid reality. SPOHR'S first oratorio is a series of scenes from the Apo- calypse ; the words are those of the sacred writer ; all is description and narrative ; no individual speaks by or of himself: but The Crucifixion is a sacred drama, in which the actors successively appear. The words were supplied by ROCHLITZ, a German poet of no ordinary celebrity ; and they are eminently distinguished by those requisites w hich such a poem demands. The Gospel narrative is faithfully adhered to, and the language is equally distinguished by simplicity, strength, and beauty. One essential difference between the original and the English version, Mr. TAYLOR thus notices- " By adopting the usual form of the oratorio—that is, a sacred drama set to music, Spohr has interposed an additional difficulty in the way of his English translator. The Continental nations, Protestant as well as Catholic, ate not conscious of any violation of propriety, still less of any irrevetence, when they introduce the Saviour among the personages of an oratorio, and set to music the words which he uttered. Regarding vocal music as the most perfect mode of giving expression to the strongest emotions of the soul, as Well as of calling them into action, they attach no more impropriety to singing than to reading them aloud. The feeling on this subject is very different in England; and in deference to it the present translation is mule. The words of Jesus are supposed to be uttered by the Apostle John. I suggested this to the highly-gifted author of the work, as the fittest mode of obviating the difficulty ; and it not only received his sanction, but he haul the kindness to make all the musical alterations and additions which were thus required."

We shrill not attempt to subject this oratorio to musical dissection, or to unfold the technical ;process by which its author has perfected his work. Those who know his other writings will expect—nor will they expect in vain—a display of those resources of art which Spout% preeminently has at command. The' u ill find melodies in r eh profusion, enriched with that wonderful power over the intricacie. of

harmony which he is so well known to possess. They will fiivi a score in which every page is a study, in tshich it would be difficult

to alter a note without creating an imperfeetion or a blemish. But they will not find a laboured and ostentatious parade of musical cm- dition : startling as his modulations ale. 11,1.1 are introduced only in order to give a more intense interest and .4 more vivid reality to tme scene. All the means he has employed are but subservient to the great end—that of bringing home to the heart of every hearer the

sublime and awful realities of the scene which he had undertaken to

depict. What we lately observed of PcacELL is equally true ef Scotia—we lose all sense or remembrance of the author in his woi k.

It is the anguish of Peter, the remorse of Judas, the constancy ef John, the affection of Mary. that :d(une occupies the thoughts. It is sympathy, grief, or indignation, that we feel—not admiration of the way in which chords are arranged or modulations effected. And this is the real triumph of genius. It is remarked by Dr. CURRIE in his Life of BURNS, that " minute descriptions of scenes of a sublime nature should never be given to those who are about to view them, particularly if they are persons of much strength or sensibility of imagination. Language seldom or never conveys an adequate idea of such objects ; although, in some minds, it may excite a picture that far transcends them." It is with some such feeling as this that we refrain from a detailed description of the varied beauties and scenes of grandeur or sublimity which this oratorio presents. A brief sketch must suffice. The overture consists solely of a fugue inn C minor, of a solemn and impressive character, chiefly sustained (in common time) by the stringed instruments ; in the course of which, the motivo of a short chorus (in triple time) to the words "He was theChrist, theSon of theAlmighty," is given at intervals by the wind instruments. To this succeeds a chorus of the Disciples during their Master's absence in the garden of Gethsemane. The treachery of Judas, the desertion of Peter, the scene in the Judgment-hall, the brutal clamour of the Jews, the inter- cession of Nicodemus, the solemn appeal of the High Priest, the reply of our Saviour, the sentence pronounced by Caiaphas and echoed by the Priests and Elders, form the principal events of the first part. The second part follows the course of the evangelical narrative ; the principal characters being those of John and Mary. The choral features of this act are varied and striking in the highest degree : they express, in succession, the deep anguish of the Disciples as they acs company their Master to Calvary, the shouts and revilings of the Jews, hte.hed into momentary silence by the exclamation " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do ! " the subdued and pathetic aspiration which accompanied the Saviour's parting breath, and the solemn and plaintive dirge with which his body was consigned to the tomb, with which the oratorio concludes. In each of these there is an equal display of that power which alone could justify the attempt to approach such a subject, and which has carried SPOHR not only safely but triumphantly through his lofty and perilous enterprise,— an enterprise which his translator (adopting the words of MILTON) has justly designated as "one of highest hope though of hardest attempting." But there is yet another chorus, more striking than even these, which describes the awful events that immediately succeeded the death of Christ : here the author has let loose all the thunders of the orchestra, while the voices thus describe the successive terrors of the scene- " What threatening tempest gathers, black as the night ! Hither it rolls, and blots the sun from the firmament heard ye the whirlwind, how it howls like the moans of the dying? The earth is reeling the abyss is yawning : the rocks are rent asunder, and the mountains fall ! The graves are bursting ! Lo, angry specnes rise from their tombs: they flit before us with looks of vengeance : the dark cloud receives them, and whirls them aloft!"

Description would utterly fail to convey an idea of the terrific effect of this chorus, performed by a band and chorus of sufficient power and discipline to realize its intended effects. One of the most striking features of this oratorio, is the variety of character and style that pervades its choruses. They display melody the most graceful and touching, as well as the shouts and yells of the Jewish mob—deep solemnity and simplicity, as well as the cries of terror and despair ; and so skilful is the laying-out of the work, that the interest never flags, but the attention and excitement of the auditor progressively increase. The choruses of an oratorio are often a meie successions of fugues, more or less elaborate, but differing little from each other. Enough of this kind of writing appears in The Crucifixion to prove, if proof were wanted, its author's to ofound knowledge of the intricacies of fugal counterpoint ; but it anears only %hen and where such knowledge may be appropriately and fitly displayed. Every thing is rendered subservient to the author's aim of enabling the singer to give the most vivid and intense expression to the words he has to utter. There are no songs of display—no opportunities fur a singer to exhibit himself in preference to his author, or to destroy the effect be may have produced by a cadence, perhaps impertinent and ill-placed. But he has the opportunity, if he possesses the power, to command a response in every heart. As in The Last Judgment, so in The Crucifixion, SPOIIR has followed in no prescribed track—here is no imitation of HANDEL or of HAYDN. He is a law unto himself. The total absence of operatic passages, or of any thing which can break the religious feeling which such a compo- sition ought to inspire, is, therefore, not the consequence of following any given model, but the necessary result of its influence on his own mind. He is prompted and guided by this, instead of hunting, like a lawyer, for authorities and cases and precedents. Every thought flows warm and fresh from his heart. It is true that those who are familiar with SPOIIR'S other compositions will trace the same hand in this. But this is equally the case with those of his great predecessors. What can be more strong than the family likeness that subsists betweenall HANDEL'S oratorios ; or who would have doubted for mm moment to decide on the author of The Creation, even had it appeared without a name ? Every truly great writer has a style of his own ; it is part and parcel of himself. It is for others to glean and copy ; he speaks u language peculiarly and essentially his MI.

There is a question which will arise in the minds of many persons in this country who regard music as a mere sensual gratification, and who consider a concert merely a place of amusement—" Ought The Crucifixion to be the subject of an oratorio intended for public per.

form:ince?" This objection Jr.:N TAYLOR has thus noticed and an- .swered- 4, I know there are many persons who will regard tbe subject of this oratorio ae an improper exercise for the 'musician's art. With every respect for an opi - Dion conscientiously adopted and avowed. I venture to dissent from it. The arm Itkve been tributary to the service of religion in all ages of the Jewish and Christian churches ; iind of these none is inure calculated to enkindle the flame of devotion, to elevate the spirit, or to touch the heal t, than music. Our im• 111011 tal hard invoked the ' mixed power ' of ' voice and wise,' in order to pre- Aleut to ' our high-raised phantasy'

'That nudist ealusl song of purr convent.

A)e sung before the vapphire.coloured throne To Him that sits Owl eon. IV ii h saititly shoot and solemn jubilee.'

If there he truth as well as poetry in this sentiment, then are the musician and tire poet deserving of honour in proportion as they labour to accomplish the high and holy purpose to which it tannte—in propontion as they succeed in carrying the • d out of the walks of every day life, in order to raise it into a purer element and breathe into it a profounder and mote pious emotion."

And why, it may be asked, should music alone, of all the arts, be shut out from the service of religion? The subject of this oratorio has been versified by poets innumerable of the Christian church in every age and country, with an express reference to a musical employ- ment of what they wrote. It sometimes happens that associations the most ludicrous are engendered by singing sacred hymns to amatory or martial, nay, bacchanalian airs: here, indeed, the power of music is abused and perverted; here, indeed,

" Fools rush in u here angels fent to tread."

But the aid of music.—and of music thus misapplied—is invoked even by the straitest sects ; who, by a strange perversion of taste, tole. rate and employ it when uncouth and barbarous, and reject it only in its most solemn, graceful, rind appropriate dress. The preacher who uses the arts of rhetoric and invokes the powers of eloquence on such a subject as the Crucifixion, is but a fellow labourer with the musician', and there is no objection to the labours of tile latter which may not be urged with equal justice against those of the former. It is admitted that the task which the musician imposes upon himself is of all others the most difficult. Moderate success is impossible. His alternative is complete triumph or signal failure. Those who mistrusted SPOHICS powers when his former oratorio appeared, are now convinced that be had not overrated them. Sceptics and gainsayers are put to silence; and the production of The Crucifixion has established, beyond all ques- tion or cavil, its author's claim to be regarded as the first of living writers.

But it is time that we turn from thevratorio to its performance on Monday night. We owe this to the Vocal Society. We owe to their discrimination the selection of such a work, to their zeal and industry the requisite preparation for its adequate performance, and to their liberality the voluntary offering to their subscribers of a concert attended with such an increase of labour and expense. The real patrons of music in London are to be found in certain members of the profession, and among these the members of the Vocal Society deserve a high rank. It will easily be imagined, from what we have already said, that the performance of this oratorio was a work of great, of unparalleled difficulty. There is no stop or pause except at the conclusion of each act ; the whole is linked and bound together indissolubly. Hence it elemands unremitted vigilance as well as first-rate ability on the part of every instrumental performer. And it had both. From beginning to end, we scarcely detected a false note, a breach of time, cr the slightest wavering or uncertainty. Much of this is attributable to the conductor's familiarity with the score, (for, on this occasion, the conductor and the translator were the same person,) to Mr. T. COOKE.'S accuracy and steadi- ness as a leader, and to the presence of two such accomplished musi- cians as Mr. Tease and Mr. Goss at the organ and the pianoforte but one impulse seemed to animate the whole band ; and the precision with which the entire oratorio was performed, bespoke the labour that

bad been bestowed in its preparation. The most arduous vocal part is that of John ; who, in the English Version, has the words of Jesus allotted to him in addition to his own. Nothing could be more perfect than HOBBS'S delivery of the Saviour's dying accents: it was touching, pathetic, and expressive in the highest degree. BALEE took the part of Peter ; and in his song, " Tears of sorrow, shame, and anguish "—one of the loveliest bass songs that ever was written—proved bow fully he understood and felt the merits and character of such a composition. Mrs. SEGUIN was the Mary Magdalen, and Mrs. BISHOP Mary the mother of Jesus ;

and both acquitted themselves like well-trained and accomplished singers. In the lovely trio " Jesus, heavenly Master," their voices

-were supported by that of Miss Hawes, whose rich and firm contralto blended with them in most happy union. The usual band of the Vocal Concerts was more than doubled on this occasion ; and the advertisement announced that " many eminent professors gave their willing and gratuitous assistance to the produc- tion of this work." As far, therefore, as was possible in a concerts room, it received ample justice. But we felt on this occasion, that a concert-room is not the proper place for the performance of an ora-

torio. You are sure to be annoyed with the impertinent intrusion of applauders. It is true that many auditors found other vent for their feelings than noise. Occasionally the silence was breathless ; but there were some twenty or thirty who chose to interrupt the progress of the oratorio and the tone of feeling which it engendered, by ap. plauses and shouts of encore. For this reason, among others, we desire to hear this oratorio elsewhere.

Of Mr. E. TAYLOR'S translation we need only say, that it is conspi- cuous for the same attention to musical accent and faithful adherence to the musical as well as poetical text of the original, as appeared in his version of The Last Judgment; and (to use the words of the Morning Chronicle)" it showed no marks of being a translation, having all the

freedom, elegance, and vigour, that could be looked for in an original composition."